Chronology
by wishingforatypewriter
Summary: 'Getting her in was one thing, if he could even manage that, but there would be no protecting this innocent cub once she was dropped inside of the tigers' den.' Follow Yukino through the tales of her time in Sabertooth leading up to the Grand Magic Games.
1. X790 Part I

**Year: X790**

"Where did it go, Sting-kun?" Lector questioned.

The twin dragons of Sabertooth, Fiore's strongest guild for the past four years, decided to split up on their latest mission. This time they were tracking two monsters so strong that no one had been able to subdue them in the past ten years.

Much to his chagrin, the one Sting was perusing was said to move at thrice the speed of most trains. After taking a moment to sniff it out, the dragon slayer found the beast's location.

"It's by the ruins a half mile ahead. We should hurry." He smelled something else in that direction, a perfume. Sweet and floral. She was young, maybe his age. The blond fancied he'd like to see what this girl looked like before she became a corpse.

* * *

Seventeen year old Yukino Aguria dug through the decrepit remnants of the dark guild Grimore Heart. She was searching for Capricorn, the last of the twelve zodiac keys. According to an urban legend it had last been seen with members of that organization.

Maybe when she found it, she'd finally be strong enough to approach Sabertooth.

Suddenly, a piercing roar sounded and a great serpentine beast crashed through the wall above her head. Yukino rolled out of the way of the flying debris and stared up at the scowling monstrosity. It was jet black with red glowing eyes and patches of green-grey scales on its face and back.

"Open: Gate of the Scales!" She called as it locked her in its sights. "Libra! Cancel his gravity!"

As the serpent flew toward Yukino, he was pushed up onto the roof. The beast started writhing, struggling violently against her magic.

"T-this strength is incredible." Libra strove to keep full control of her scales. "I'm not sure how long I can hold him."

"I understand." The celestial mage pulled out another of her keys. "Pisces! Restrain him."

The black and white fish spirits wound themselves around the serpent, one at the neck and the other at the tail, making it impossible for the monster to escape Libra's anti-gravity zone.

Beads of sweat dotted the young wizard's forehead. Neither of these spirits could actually defeat the monster in combat and she hadn't the power to summon more than two at a time.

She could only hold it in place, and when she ran out of magical power the serpent would surely eat her alive. "This is just my luck," she sighed.

"White dragon's roar!" Just then a laser ran through the beast's middle. However, it's flesh quickly began to regenerate.

Yukino had to dodge to avoid being hit with the backlash. "Hey!" She called, before she could hold her tongue. "Please be a bit more careful! If these celestial spirits disappear, it would be very unfortunate for us both."

It was then when Sting realized that the infernal beast was actually still for a change. He glanced at Yukino curiously. A small voice in his head commented that she was even cuter than he'd anticipated. "You did that?"

"Yes," she breathed, starting to feel dizzy from the heavy strain on her magic. "But it won't last for much longer."

"Take a break. I've got it from here." With that he immobilized the beast with his own magic. "White dragon's claw."

Yukino sent the spirits back and leaned against the wall, catching her breath. It was then when she got a good look at the young man, and at the guild mark on his left shoulder. It was him; one of Sabertooth's twin dragons.

"Holy Nova!" With that the monster was vaporized, bringing the ten year task to a close. Eight million jewels, easy.

Afterward he turned to the celestial wizard who was staring at him, clearly stupefied. "Come with me."

"W-what?" For some reason she found it hard to breathe under his sharp cerulean gaze.

"To get a cut of the reward," he clarified, smirking at her flustered expression. "I'm not gonna try to seduce you, or something." Not yet, at least.

"Sting-kun is fair like that." Lector affirmed, nodding proudly.

"You don't have to," she responded, looking down deferentially. "After all, if you didn't come along it would have killed me eventually."

"You're a morbid one, aren't you?" The dragon slayer asked rhetorically. "But seriously, just take the money. I don't like feeling indebted to anyone."

"We insist!" Lector chimed in.

"But you-"

"I'd still be chasing the thing if you weren't here. So, come on." With little regard to personal space, he took the girl by the hand and pulled her toward the exit.

She knew that she'd remember every detail that small contact for years to come.

* * *

"What was your name, again?" The dragon slayer asked when they'd been on the road for awhile. Long silences were Rogue's thing, not his.

"Yukino," she replied shyly. "Yukino Aguria."

"Nice to meet 'ya, Yukino-kun. I'm Lector," the exceed announced. "And of course you already know who Sting-kun is."

"I can't imagine there's anyone who doesn't," she said with honest admiration in her voice.

Everyone knew that the twin dragons were the very heart of Sabertooth's strength.

Sting smirked again to himself. A more modest person would have blushed at being praised by such a cute girl. Though he hated to admit it, he was starting to take a liking to her. "What were you doing all the way out there, anyway?"

"I was looking for something," she sighed. "I had a feeling it wouldn't be there, but I had to try anyway."

"What kind of thing?" Sabertooth's influence was as strong as it was far reaching. He might have helped her if the notion struck his fancy.

"The last of the twelve zodiac keys," she explained. "I have two, and nine of them disappeared six years ago with a wizard named Lucy Heartfilia."

"What a waste," he commented. He remembered that a girl named Lucy had been Natsu's partner. Maybe his girl, too, but no one really knew about that bit. "Fairy Tail, huh? I actually wanted to join that guild when I was younger."

"They were once very popular, if I remember correctly," Yukino mused, as they reached the village.

"Yeah, but it's just a bunch of losers left there now. No self respecting mage would end up in such a weak guild."

As they walked through the small village the pair received a hero's welcome, complete with small children requesting autographs.

"Cool! COOL!" Jason, the reporter exclaimed. He caught them right in front of the mayor's office and started snapping pictures. "Gold keys? I haven't seen such cool magical items in years!"

Sting sighed. Killing a reporter would probably create bad publicity for the guild. "Just pose, Yukino," he advised.

"A dragon slayer and a celestial spirit summoner. I haven't seen this cool combination since Fairy Tail's Natsu and Lucy. It's like a reincarnation," he went on. "Saber is TOO COOL! This is my front page story!" He sped away, off to get started on what he was sure would be the best article of the year.

"Please wait, Jason-sama!" She called after him, to no avail. "Is this alright?" She asked Sting. "I mean, I'm not in Sabertooth."

"You should be," was his calculated response. Fiore's strongest guild should have what must have been its strongest celestial mage. "But we can just get him to print a retraction. What guild are you actually in?"

"I'm still independent," she replied as they entered the building. The mayor's accountant handed Sting the sum of eight thousand jewels, half of which he gave to Yukino without a second thought.

After taking a second to gawk at the large wad of money, she tucked it into her purse and continued. "I've gotten offers from Pegasus and Lamia, but I've been holding out."

"Lamia and Pegasus are both stronger guilds than Mermaid Heel," he advised, thinking that was where she wanted to join. "Don't be drawn in."

Yukino took a deep breath. It was now of never. "Actually, Sting-sama, the guild I've been aiming for is Sabertooth." And if luck was on her side, she just hit the mark.

"Your wait is over," he said decisively. "I'll get you in as soon as we get back."

Her face lit up, eyes welling with tears of joy. "Really?"

"Of course," Lector affirmed. "Sting-kun always keeps his promises."

"Thank you, Sting-sama!" She exclaimed. "Thank you, so much!"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't thank me yet."

Getting her in would be one thing, if he could even manage that, but there'd be no protecting this innocent girl once she was dropped inside of the tigers' den.

Author's notes: Thanks for reading, everyone! Chapter two is already up on tumblr. Feel free to check it out.


	2. X790 Part II

"Sorano," Yukino sighed as she stepped out of the hotel room's gargantuan hot tub. "Thank you. You must still be watching over me." That was the only thing that could explain her unprecedented change in luck.

One minute the celestial mage had been fighting a hopeless battle for her very survival, and the next she was beside one of the country's most famous wizards with millions of jewels in her pocket and an invitation to the guild of her dreams.

She wrapped a towel around around herself and stepped out into the room, taking a moment to appreciate the high quality furniture. It seemed like a lot for just a short mission, but she supposed it made sense for Sabertooth to do everything in style.

Yukino examined the contents of her shopping bags with a satisfied smirk adorning her lips. She didn't think it a good idea to bother Sting with the trifle of retrieving her things and instead opted to invest in a whole new wardrobe. After all, it wasn't as though she couldn't afford it.

She was just in the midst of deciding whether or not to go back for another pair of designer boots when the door swung open.

"Why the hell is all your shit in my room, Sting!" Rogue raged. "What kind of prank is this…oh!"

"Ahh!" She screamed, pulling the towel tighter around herself. This was not the impression she wanted to leave on a major member of the guild. "I, uh, I…sorry, um," she stammered, too surprised and flustered to form a coherent sentence.

The shadow dragon slayer turned red as a cherry tomato when he caught sight of the white haired girl in a towel. "M-my appologies, miss. I, uh, didn't mean to intrude-"

"What the fuck, Rogue!" Sting stormed in, punching his friend straight in the eye. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking? Don't just walk in on a girl like that." He grabbed his friend by the cloak and tossed him out of the room.

"Sorry about that, Yukino."

"I-it's alright, Sting-sama," she said, too embarrassed to look up at him.

Sting couldn't help but smirk. He couldn't believe how untouched this girl must have been. It was like she had no idea how nice that body of hers was. "Just…lock the door next time if you're gonna get scared," he cautioned before leaving the girl to her privacy.

"Who the hell was that in your room?" Rogue questioned, cheeks still faintly red, as soon as Sting returned to their suite's common area.

"Yukino-kun," Lector said as though it was self explainatory.

"She was pretty," Frosch piped up. "Rogue, let's be friends with her!"

The shadow dragon slayer ran a hand over his face. "What is_Yukino-kun_ doing here?" He tried again.

Sting scratched his head guiltily. "She sorta helped me take down that monster earlier."

Rogue nodded as though something just clicked into place. "So that's how you finished so much faster than me!"

"Rogue, that's petty," Lector chimed in.

"Fro thinks so, too."

"Anyway," Sting continued. "She was pretty strong so I kind of told her I'd get her into Sabertooth."

Rogue gawked at his friend's audacity. "Why did you…you know we don't have that kind of power!"

"Yeah, well-"

"Sure, you recommending her might help. But if the master or the lady happen to dislike her, she's done. You can't make promises like that just to get a girl to sleep with you. That is wildly unethical!" the shadow dragon ranted on.

"It's not like that. I'm not sleeping with Yukino!" _Yet_. The possibility was still hanging in he air, but it was completely up to her at this point.

"She was nearly naked in your bedroom!"

"It's her room now," Sting explained. "I gave it to her."

"Then where are you going to sleep?"

"Your room."

"Where will I sleep, then?" Rogue felt a whole new wave of annoyance coming on.

"On the couch, idiot."

"How did this become the arrangement?" He sighed, taking a moment to compose himself. "Anyway, why would you promise to get her into the guild?"

Sting shrugged. "Cuz I will. If I didn't make the offer she'd probably end up in Lamia or something. What's the point in making another guild stronger? Besides, the girl has the personality of a potted plant. Who could dislike her?"

"You know the lady has her moods," Rogue cautioned. He could easily see too much sweetness putting her off.

"I'll handle Minerva," Sting assured. "I know how to work around her."

"I hope you're right," Rogue sighed. "For the girl's sake."

"Fro agrees."

* * *

They reached the guild in two day's time and, as expected, Yukino's arrival stirred up quite a bit of interest.

"What's this?" Orga peered down at the petite girl. Under his scrutiny, she unconsciously shifted so she was partially hidden behind Sting.

"Haven't you heard?" Rufus asked sardonically. The memory make mage held up the latest issue of _Sorcerer's Weekly_. "She's Sabertooth's brand new celestial spirit wizard."

"Really," Minerva's deep contralto voice rang through the guild hall as she descended the stairs. "I haven't heard anything about that. Nor has my father, I presume. Tell me," she stared Sting dead in the eye, aiming to intimidate. "Has here been a shift in our leadership?"

He sighed, clearly trying to keep ahold of his patience. "No, my lady, but-"

"But yet here you stand between me and my prey. Step aside." Minerva pointedly pushed past him and Rogue to focus on Yukino.

"So pretty," she gushed in a falsely saccharine tone of voice. "But you're afraid. Good. It seems like you have a bit of sense. More than I can say of these two," she jabbed at Sting and Rogue.

"Have you a name, darling," she drawled, most sinisterly.

"Yukino Aguria," she said softly, "My lady," she tacked on at the last second.

"Rufus. What do we know about her?" Minerva prompted.

"Not much, I'm afraid. Celestial spirit wizard. Two gold keys-"

"Three," Yukino corrected. "I have three gold keys."

"Look at you, already exceeding our expectations." Minerva smirked. "Step into my office, sweetheart. Let's you and me have a chat."

Yukino nodded and proceeded to follow her up the stairs. The slamming of the door behind them echoed emphatically.

"You've done it now," Orga commented once they were gone. "Minerva might kill her."

"If memory serves correctly, she likes to brutalize them first," Rufus added, wearing a smug expression. "Sometimes with her magic, others with a blunt object."

"A blunt object…?" Sting looked up at the staircase warily. In bringing the girl to Sabertooth, he'd only meant to take a page from his old role model's book. He hadn't been looking to get her hurt in any way.

Rogue sent him a look that said something along the lines of 'what on earthland have you done?'

"Yukino-kun is Sabertooth material," Lector declared. "She can handle it."

"F-Fro thinks so, too."

* * *

"Three golden keys," Minerva repeated once they were in private. "The only three left in existence, I presume."

"Yes," Yukino replied. "With the exception of one which may have been in the possession of Lucy Heartfilia when she disappeared."

"Might I see what you can do with them?" Minerva leaned forward on her hands, waiting for the inevitable moment when she got bored of the girl. Then, the real fun would begin.

Nodding, the celestial mage drew Libra's key from her pouch. "Open: Gate of the Scales."

Wordlessly, she prompted the spirit to cancel the gravity of everything in the room. From lamps and papers to tables and chairs everything began to hover in the air, with the exception of Yukino and Minerva in their seats.

"Interesting," the dark haired woman allowed once the presentation was over. More interesting than she'd expected. "Tell me," she prompted. "Why did you pick that one?"

"Well, my lady," Yukino began. "The other two spirits in contract with me greatly exceed the capacity of this room."

"A bold statement," the predatory mage laughed. "There's some fire in you, yet. And you must be something special if Sting of all people would vouch for you."

She reached into the desk behind her and pulled out a special stamp set. "Given the circumstances, I suppose I could admit you into my guild on something of a trial basis. Where do you want your mark?"

Surprised beyond belief, Yukino pointed to the left side of her waist.

"I'll use the white," Minerva decided. "In honor of the innocence with which you came. I wonder how long you'll manage to keep it?"

"Thank you, Lady Minerva."

The dark haired woman then gave a reptilian grin. "Pack your things, Yukino. You will accompany me on a particularly difficult S-class task. If you manage to survive, bear the Sabertooh emblem with pride as a full fledged member. But if not," her eyes emitted a sadistic gleam, "I'll give you the privilege of being buried with it."

"Get some rest, dear," Minerva said as she left and started down the stairs again. "We leave at dawn."

Yukino just stood there awhile, needing time to gain her bearings. After a few deep breaths she descended the stairs.

"Yukino!" Frosch exclaimed, tears of joy in the exceed's eyes.

"Thank goodness," Lector exhaled.

"Still alive, then?" Sting appraised her with a slight glint of pride in his eyes. He'd been right about her after all.

She nodded once, blushing slightly when he addressed her.

"But is she in?" Orga questioned.

Yukino raised her tank top a bit to reveal the guild insignia on her toned stomach. "I'm in. For now, at least."

'_Thank you, Sorano,' _the girl thought to herself. Her future was still far from certain, but her luck had never been better.

A/N: Thanks for reading this second installment! I think I enjoyed writing about Minerva a little more than I should have. Review please, if you enjoyed it (or if you didn't. Constructive criticism is always welcome!).


	3. X790 Part III

Yukino sighed as she reclined on her pristine new couch, gazing out of the sliding glass windows that led to her balcony. The pain in her side was unbearable, but the view of the city from her luxury apartment almost made up for it. The 150,000 jewels she had to put up for rent each month were mere child's play in the face of her Sabertooth salary.

The celestial spirit mage always knew the pay would be good, but she hadn't expected to go on eight S-class jobs in her first few months at the guild. Ever since word got out that she survived a mission with Minerva, who only took on the most dangerous requests, almost all of Sabertooth's elite members asked her to accompany them on a task.

And how could a newcomer like her possibly say no to any one of them?

The pale haired woman rolled over slowly, as not to exacerbate her injuries, and shut her eyes in a moment of serenity. So what if she was perpetually sore? She was finally in _Sabertooth_, and besides, black and blue had always been some of her best colors.

Her moment of peace was ultimately interrupted when a knock sounded at her door. Yukino sighed, rolling laboriously off the couch. She tightened her robe, slid on her slippers, and shuffled to the door thinking her new Heart Kreuz jacket had finally arrived.

To her overwhelming surprise the person on the other side of the door was not a delivery boy, but none other than the white dragon slayer, Sting Eucliffe. "Hey, Yukino!"

"S-Sting-sama," she wasn't sure whether to be pleased or alarmed.

She hadn't seen much of the dragon slayer since she was formally inducted into the guild, and thought that it was for the better. Although everything worked out in the end, _somehow_, he still deceived her. He had no more say in who got into Sabertooth than she did in who received the title of Wizard Saint.

He had literally gambled with her life for the sake of imitating some childhood hero of his and honestly, Yukino wasn't sure if she wanted anything to do with him.

"This is a nice place you've got here, Yukino-kun!" Lector walked right past her and started looking around the apartment before she could even invite them in, not that she had any particular desire to do so. "Woah! That view!"

The pale haired woman shook her head and beckoned the dragon slayer inside. She already lost the window of opportunity to excuse her way out of the situation. "What brings you to my apartment, Sting-sama?"

He smirked at her. "I just can't help but feel cheated."

Yukino made a confused face. "What?"

"I mean, the lady I can understand, but Orga? Rufus? _Rogue_? Even that prick Dobengal? You've been on a quest with every wizard worth a damn in this guild."

"Except Sting-kun," Lector added, getting straight to the point.

"It wasn't intentional," she defended right away. "I didn't expect for anyone to take an interest in me. They just requested that I come along with them, and I saw no reason to refuse."

It was true to an extent. She'd been on jobs virtually nonstop since joining the guild.

"Only Sting-kun could have brought someone like this to the guild," Lector said proudly. "Yukino-kun is getting so popular."

"Yeah, I've noticed," Sting said with an air of teasing. He swiftly closed the distance between them, and stared down at the celestial mage with a smirk that oozed easy confidence. "So, when's it gonna be my turn?"

Yukino felt her face heating rapidly. At the moment, she had no idea how she was supposed to feel about the admittedly handsome dragon slayer, but she was absolutely certain that he should not be able to drive her heart into fits just by standing near her. She could barely stand to look up into those electric blue eyes, lest they send her into cardiac arrest. Yukino had no clue what was happening to her, but she didn't like it. Not one bit.

Just then, as if answering some unsaid prayer, the doorbell rang once again. "E-excuse me a moment, Sting-sama."

Thankful for the escape, the celestial mage turned away too quickly and sent a sharp pain to her bruised ribs. She released a small whimper as she shuffled to the door.

After signing for her package, she returned to the living room.

"What's in the box, Yukino-kun?" Lector asked, curiously.

"It's a jacket," Yukino moved the box closer so the exceed could see inside as she opened it.

The coat was light blue with the HK insignia in gold and a white fur trim along the hood. The feline nodded approvingly. "Heart Kreuz, huh? Very stylish. Are you gonna try it on?"

"Well, I don't see why not." Yukino casually slid out of her robe, forgetting momentarily that her thin pajama set exposed most of her bruises.

"Yukino-kun…" the loquacious cat was uncharacteristically speechless.

Sting stared disbelievingly at the pink, blue, and purple blotches that marred arms, chest, and midsection. "Shit. Who fucked you up like that?"

Yukino nearly laughed at the question. After a certain point she stopped keeping track. The enemies she faced were formidable, and she couldn't afford to slow anyone down. "Oh, well, I suppose some jobs haven't gone as smoothly as others. I don't mind."

Sting had to admit, she was tougher than she looked. That had to be downright painful. "I mean, can't you fight?" The thought hadn't really occurred to him before.

"Well, in the heat of the moment, I can't expect my spirits to protect me from everything. I wouldn't want them to if it meant not completing a task." Failure wasn't an option. That was the first thing she had learned.

"Not, the spirits. You." He poked her lightly on the stomach, making the girl flinch. "An enemy shouldn't be able to get close enough to you for most of that to happen," he said of her injuries. "Everyone knows that's the trick to most holder types: the summoner is the weak one."

Lector nodded approvingly. "Take this advice from the strongest wizard in Sabertooth."

The celestial spirit mage could hardly believe his arrogance. He came into her home uninvited, and then presumed to tell her what was wrong with her own magic. Although, she had to admit, there was a measure of truth to it. "I might look into some lessons," she acquiesced. After all, it couldn't hurt any more than what she was already putting up with. "So, when are we leaving on this job?"

"Two weeks," he decided. "Take some time to heal before then." If she started slipping up on missions because she was exhausted, people would begin to question her strength. And his judgment.

"Eh!" Lector exclaimed. "Sting-kun, I thought we were leaving tonight."

Sting shook his head at the exceed. Sometimes he could be really oblivious to the social atmosphere. "That's a different job."

Yukino giggled lightly. "Thank you, but I doubt I be able to get that long a break anytime soon." Every time she set foot in the guild, she seemed to be swept up in another person's adventures.

The dragon slayer smirked yet again. "I wouldn't worry so much about that," he started to make his way towards the door. "See you around."

"Later, Yukino-kun!" Lector called as the two made their exit.

"Thank you for visiting." She waved goodbye before locking the door behind them.

"You should listen to your boyfriend more." Mother Pisces said, as the celestial spirit lounged on the couch in her human form. "Maybe there is something to all of Aquarius' talk."

"Pisces!" Yukino exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?" Her keys were in the other room. "A-and more importantly, Sting-sama isn't my boyfriend!" She hadn't a clue what part of their conversation could be construed as even vaguely romantic.

"I passed through the gate by my own power," she explained, completely ignoring her summoner's denial. "Because I heard something interesting."

"What are you talking about? And where's your other half?"

"A mother needs a break once in a while." The blue haired woman grinned, cracking her knuckles. "I might not be as good as Leo, but I am quite proficient at hand to hand combat. I would be happy to assist you in improving these skills."

"Really!" Her expression brightened. "Thank you so much. I would love to."

"Alright. Training camp begins tomorrow at 9:00 AM sharp. Wear comfortable clothing, preferably nothing too expensive." With that, she took her leave back to the spirit world.

Yukino sighed and returned to lounging on the couch, deciding to savor what little rest she she could get while it lasted—because a Sabertooth wizard's work never seemed to be done.

* * *

When Sting arrived at the guild after his visit with the newcomer, several of the strongest mages surrounded the S-class request board looking for the highest paying jobs. The listings had apparently been updated that morning.

"Circumvent an ancient curse," Rufus said to himself, plucking one from the wall. "A two person job? I would be more than suitable on my own, but," he gazed around the guild hall. It would require someone with more than a subtle hint of intelligence. Who would be suitable? Ah, he remembered. "Sting. Lector. Do you two recall seeing the new girl around?"

"Do I look like her keeper?" he retorted with a bored expression.

His exceed, though confused, said nothing. They had _literally_ just seen her.

"Nope," Orga, who'd heard the exchange, inserted. "Just someone trying to get in her pants."

"But Yukino usually wears skirts," Frosch chimed in as she and Rogue approached the request board. And with that, all intentions of starting a semi-inappropriate conversation were dismissed.

"Speaking of which," Rogue said, skimming the dense selection of jobs. "I think I'll invite her on my next quest with me. Frosch really seems to enjoy her company."

"Fro thinks so too!" the exceed chimed in.

"I haven't gotten a chance to see the thirteenth gate yet," Dobengel stated, implying that he too wanted to be next in line. The last job he'd taken with her hadn't been challenging enough for her to use it.

"All of you lay off the girl for a while," Sting said with just the right mixture of apathy and disgust. "You'll make the guild look weak if you all keep clinging to her like you've never seen magic before. It's embarrassing."

That would do it. An association with weakness would wean any wizard in this town away from their most cherished pastimes.

"You know, Sting-kun," Lector prompted as they waited for their train to arrive at the station hours later. "You really look out for Yukino-kun." Maybe there was some truth to what people were saying about the two.

"It's a one time thing," he promised. Fiore's strongest guild had no room for luxuries such as friendships and bonds. In the end she, like everyone else, would have to rise or fall on her own.

**Author's Notes: **Thanks for reading, everyone! Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	4. X790 Part IV

**Chapter Four **

Yukino arrived promptly at the Gladiolus train station with a small duffel bag slung over one shoulder and a Skyjewels Coffee cup in each hand. When she finally caught sight of the blond dragon slayer waiting by track nine, she sauntered up to him and offered him one. "I hope you like the house blend. I also got a brownie for Lector."

"You're the best, Yukino-kun!" the exceed said, happily taking the treat from her.

"You're in a good mood," Sting observed as he sipped his coffee. "I never pegged you as a morning person."

"I'm not. Not at all," she assured. The celestial mage's prefered time of day was deep in the afternoon. "But today I feel so well rested." She couldn't believe she'd made it the full two weeks without anyone dragging her somewhere. Even with Mother Pisces' rigorous training, she'd still been able to catch up on a lot of sleep.

Just then their train pulled into the station and the Sabertooth trio boarded. Deciding to get comfortable, Yukino grabbed a book and a blanket from her bag and started reading. She wanted to finish it by the time they got there, and start the next of the novels Rufus recommended on the way back. "Which stop do we get off at, Sting-sama?" she asked, to gauge the amount of time it would take.

"The last one," he managed before the train started moving. The dragon slayer leaned forward covering his mouth, his stomach lurching terribly.

Yukino glanced at him from over the top of her book, eyes softening with sympathy. "You too?" She'd been under the impression that this particular brand of suffering was unique to Rogue.

"It's a dragon slayer issue," Lector explained. "He should be okay once we get there."

"Poor thing." It would be at least a three hour ride. After a moment's hesitation, she moved to sit next to the blond and started rubbing his back soothingly. "Does this help a little?"

"Yeah...thanks."

"Anytime." The celestial wizard fumbled with her book, trying to turn the page with one hand. "Just try to relax."

By the time they reached their destination, Lector had taken over the post of official page-turner and Yukino switched to massaging Sting's neck and temples once he fell asleep with his head in her lap.

"Sting-sama." She nudged him gently. "We're here."

He glanced up at the pale haired mage, gazing lazily into her expressive amber eyes. He had to admit, it they weren't the worst thing in the world to wake up to.

"_Last stop: Lotus Town!" _The conductor announced over the intercom. For a split second, a shocked expression—something akin to terror—crossed Yukino's features, but the look was gone as fast as it came.

"So apparently this dark guild just outside of town has been kidnapping kids and holding 'em for ransom," Sting filled her in on the mission as he read the map. "We should probably make a left on this street."

Yukino shook her head. "It's the next one." She remembered all too well.

"Have you been here before, Yukino-kun?" Lector questioned.

She had little time to respond before they turned onto the next block, and were swarmed by a flock of children coming out of a tall school building.

"_No way! It's one of the twin dragons of Sabertooth!" _

"_Sting-san is the very strongest!" _

" _Can I get an autograph!"_

"_Me too!" _

Yukino watched, half amused, as the kids haphazardly ripped pages out of their notebooks for him to sign. He actually accommodated their wishes, scribbling messily onto the endless sheets and bathing them in the glow of his arrogant charisma.

A faint pink blush dusted her cheeks at the sight. Never in her wildest dreams did the pale haired mage think that _he _could be so good with children...or that she would ever be in this place again. She glanced up at the words engraved into the brick structure just to be certain: _Alina Aguria Academy for Magic and the Humanities. _

"I-is that you, Yukino-san?" the voice of an older woman sounded from behind her.

"Catherine-sama!" she turned around and smiled. The headmistress had grown wider in the hips over the years, and there wasn't a strand of auburn left in her gray hair, but otherwise she looked exactly the same as she did over a decade prior.

"Oh, you are the spitting image of your mother when she was young." It nearly brought tears to her eyes to see the timid little girl of her memory all grown up. "Come in, come in! I'll put on a pot of tea. It's so good of you to bring your fiance to see your hometown. What an attractive young man. Alina-san would be so pleased."

"Catherine-sama, he and I aren't together." Yukino was just about tired of people assuming that. As she watched the headmistress' expression fall, she wondered if she was still falling short of her mother's expectations. "Our guild just received a request to break up the dark guild and put a stop to the kidnappings."

Catherine couldn't help but stare in awe. She was a guild wizard now. "You really are just like her," said nostalgically. "It's about time someone shut down those ruffians! After all those years of making us pay tribute for their protection, when that Zeref cult sailed in and started stealing the children, they turned tail and ran. If it wasn't for your parents' sacrifice none of us would be here today."

Yukino managed a dejected half-smile. "They were incredible mages." Even if they weren't the most loving parents, that much had been true. "But," she started hesitantly, trying not to get her hopes up. "Have you heard any news of Sorano?"

The woman shook her head sullenly. "No, I'm sorry dear, not since that night. Some of those who escaped the Tower returned over the years, but none mentioned her."

"I thought not." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Sting was just about finished with his adoring fans. "I'm afraid we must be going now. It's been so nice seeing you again."

"The pleasure is all mine, darling!" She waved them off. "Be safe!"

"Who was that old woman?" Sting asked as the two continued on their journey.

Yukino decided to answer directly, hoping their curiosity wouldn't last."An old acquaintance of my mother's."

"Does she live nearby?" Lector questioned, because where there were mothers there was almost always home cooked food in abundance.

"She died years ago."

"What? I'm so, so sorry Yukino-kun!" the exceed said, flailing worriedly.

"It's fine," she assured. "I was very young when it happened, and we weren't very close, anyway."

* * *

The job had been almost effortlessly successful. Sting barely even had to intervene once Yukino summoned the serpent bearer. But after they collected the reward money the celestial wizard declined his offer to go for dinner, claiming to have a headache.

By the time the white dragon slayer returned to their suite with takeout, she had already locked herself away in her room.

"Yukino-kun!" Lector called outside of her door. "We brought you food!" The exceed frowned when there was no response. It seemed early for her to be sleeping.

"Just let her be, Lector," Sting advised. "The mission's done. She'll come out when she's ready." He then moved even closer to the door saying, "And when she is, there's some pasta waiting for her in the mini-fridge," in a particularly loud voice.

It wasn't until after midnight, when Lector was fast asleep, that Sting heard the sound of soft sniffling and the hum of the microwave over his movie on lacrima-vision. He knew that hunger would win out eventually.

"T-thanks for the food," she choked out in a tiny voice when she heard him coming up behind her.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked, the words coming out more harshly than he intended.

"Allergies," she replied without turning around to face him. "Must...be the dust."

"Bullshit. This is a four star hotel," he snorted. "If dust was allowed to accumulate in here, half the staff would be fired." There was a brief pause while he thought. "You know, if you wanna make it in this guild you're gonna have to get better at that."

"At what?" she bit back a sob.

"Being as stoic as you think you are. Everyone in Sabertooth is your rival. If they sense a moment of weakness, they'll use it to take you down a notch. If you're not the picture of confidence even on your worst days," _especially_ on her worst days, if he were to be truthful, "you'll get destroyed in this guild."

"You're right." She wiped at her face and finally turned to face him with watering, red rimmed eyes. "I'm-"

"But we're not at the guild now." He smirked at her with an undecipherable look in his eyes, and then pulled the girl into a hug. "What's wrong, Yukino?"

The pale haired mage tensed for a moment and then relaxed against the warmth and firmness of his bare chest. "I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't be...there a-are just so many memories." She shut her eyes tightly but the burning hot tears still fought their way out of the corners. Her parents, Sorano, the life she used to have here. Once the lotus scented air hit her nose in the train station, she knew this would be an ordeal.

"My parents died protecting the people of this town," she sniffed. "And I must be a terrible person because I'm back here and I c-can't even make myself miss them." Everyone considered them heroes, but all she could remember was them screaming at her for being clumsy, or forgetful, or any of the other vices of small children. And in her mother's eyes, especially, her magic was never strong enough.

"If you don't miss them, there just wasn't much to miss. That's all there is too it." He'd never been good with this kind of thing, all the crying and shaking and sniffing. It reminded him of Lector when they were young. "You deal with shitty people on a daily basis, and you're not one of them."

"You're not either," she said quietly. When she looked up into his deep cerulean eyes, she found warmth there. "T-the person holding me right now...that's who you really are." There wasn't a doubt in your mind.

"Can't really say that's true." And while part of him was glad she thought so, another part dreaded it. If that was truly what she saw in him, he would disappoint her immensely. The tragic end of _whatever-they-were_ was written in the stars.

**Author's Notes: **Thanks for reading, everyone! If you have any pre-GMG StingYu headcannons, or just anything you'd like to see in this story in general, please leave a review or PM me.


	5. X790 Part V

"Libra," Mother Pisces called to her fellow spirit as she presided over Yukino's workout. "Increase the resistance again by ten percent for the next rep."

The scale bearer shook her head, refusing. "According to my calculations, this is all she can bear at this time."

"You're coddling her too much," the dark haired spirit admonished, shaking her head. "Don't tell me you're going soft like the rest." In her opinion the other zodiac spirits weren't anywhere near tough enough on their girl.

"That is not so," the masked woman replied, maintaining her placidity. Nothing ever seemed to rile her. "I merely observed that-"

"Libra," Yukino interrupted, looking up at the scale bearer. Despite her panting, she smiled reassuringly. "It's alright. I can handle it."

Pisces smirked. She always knew she liked this one.

"Very well." Libra adjusted her scales, increasing the weight on the girl's back as she did her next forty pushups.

"Alright, that's enough strength training for today," Mother Pisces dictated after she was done. "Time for the fun stuff. There's a specific reason I asked Libra to come today."

"Not just for my company?" The scale bearer joked in her usual monotone.

"Gravity magic's an interesting thing." Pisces smirked, dragging out one of the practice dummies. The sheer number of training facilities at Sabertooth was astounding. "Especially if you're willing to get creative. Decrease your own gravity and you can move faster, jump higher. Increase it and...well, you get the idea."

Yukino nodded, grinning slightly. "I think I do. Libra," she turned to her other spirit. "Can I try something?"

"Of course."

"Gravity decrease, thirty percent." The celestial spirit mage quickly sprung into the air, higher than she thought was possible. "Alright. Increase fifty percent!" Yukino crashed into the wooden practice dummy with a flying kick that left it in splinters.

"Sloppy." Pisces smirked. "But impressive nonetheless. We'll work on precision more later, but for now…" she glanced up at the clock in the corner of the room. "You better go home and change unless you plan on wearing sweat to your interview."

"You're right! I'll be late if I don't hurry." Yukino couldn't believe three hours had gone by so quickly. She hastily stuffed her weights and water bottles back in her navy blue gym bag. "Thank you so much for all your help, by the way. Both of you."

"It's a mother's pride watching her offspring become monsters." She couldn't wait to see the look on Aquarius' face when she saw how much stronger Yukino was than her summoner.

Libra smirked, agreeing. "Through blood, sweat, and tears we'll forge you into something frightening."

Yukino laughed nervously as they took their leave back to the spirit world. Those two were as intense as they came.

Two and a half hours later, Yukino was at the _Sorcerer's Weekly _headquarters in the capital city of Crocus.

"Lovely, lovely," the photographer encouraged as the flashbulbs continuously went off. "This one's for the cover."

She was in the final phase of her photo shoot now. They'd taken a few shots of her in the clothes she came in, then, somehow convinced her to let them do a few sets of her in a teal two-piece swimsuit. Part of her only allowed it because she wanted to show off her guild mark. She worked hard enough to bear it with pride.

Now, for this last set, they put her in a black strapless dress and traded the blue flower in her hair for a red one. They also stuck her in heels far higher than the ones she usually wore, and spent nearly an hour doing her makeup.

"Wonderful. You are a model," the man behind the camera continued to shower her with praise that sounded less and less genuine each time. "This time, try to look like you have a secret. Like you are about to meet with your clandestine lover."

Yukino blinked, suddenly breaking her pose. "I- I don't have-"

"Imagine, darling," the photographer stressed. "Close your eyes," he instructed, finally pausing. "And pretend that you are in love. It overwhelms you every time that person is around you, but no one can find out. Suddenly, he's here in front of you, and no one is looking."

Despite herself, Yukino found herself playing along with his fantasy, trying to grasp that all-consuming feeling. The only thing that came even remotely close was the time Sting showed up to her apartment unexpectedly, but she thought that couldn't have been anything more than surprise.

"Now, open them…there! Yes! That's the look. Perfect, perfect."

In a few minutes, she was sitting down with a reporter, Matsuki-san, for her interview.

"So, what would you say is the best quality of Sabertooth as a guild?" he prompted.

Yukino released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. This reporter has been known to ask incredibly personal questions, most notably in an interview from six years ago with Lucy Heartfilia. Apparently she was being cut some slack. "There are a lot of very talented wizards around. The atmosphere inspires me to work as hard as everyone else."

The dark haired man smiled as he jotted down notes. "All of us here at Sorcerer are rooting for you, Yukino-san. So, what's your dream for the future?"

"To be reunited with someone I lost a long time ago," she said without much hesitation. Finding Sorano has always been among her top priorities.

"And, with whom in the guild do you share the best relationship?"

Yukino paused for a minute. No answer was the right answer. Picking favorites would do her no good. "I'd say I have a pretty good relationship with everyone."

Matsuki shook his head, smirking knowingly. He knew a cop out answer when he heard one, but he would let it slide this time. She was new. "What was the most difficult job you've ever taken?"

"Definitely my first job," she recalled. "I just wasn't used to doing work at that level. It's gotten easier, though, the longer I've been at the guild."

The seasoned journalist nodded. "Now, at this time in the interview we like to get a bit more personal, for our readers' sake. Do you mind, Yukino-san?"

"W-well, I suppose not." Even as she said this, Yukino bit her lip tentatively.

"Are you seeing anyone right now?" Matsuki questioned.

She shook her head. "I've been focused on work."

"So all of us can still dream," he joked. "And what do you look for in a love interest, when you are looking, that is? What does Yukino-san find attractive?"

She sighed. She knew this was coming. "I would say I'm most attracted to confident personalities." Generic answers like that would do her no harm.

"Say more," he prompted.

"Well, I…" Yukino paused. While she'd been on a few dates, her love life never had that strong of a pulse. "I really admire natural leaders, and people who can be bold. I suppose it's because I have such a reserved personality, myself."

Matsuki nodded as he continued to write. Now, this, would make a story. He could see the glossy headline now: "Rising Star of Sabertooth Dreams of the Person Who Completes Her Constellation."

"So you think that opposites attract?"

"I think it's more about a balance in personalities," she admitted. Maybe Libra influenced her in more ways than she noticed. "I've always been quiet, so it would be nice to be with someone energetic, who can fill up the silences. Some people are like that. You can just close your eyes and listen to them talk for hours without getting bored."

Matsuki grinned. The article was writing itself. "Well, that's about it for the interview. Thanks for sharing Yukino-san. I hope you find everything you're hoping for, in magic and romance."

She stood up, smiling despite her clear embarrassment. "Thank you for having me, Matsuki-sama. Enjoy the rest of your day."

Later that night, Yukino returned to Sabertooth hoping to find someone to go on a job with, but the guildhall was all but deserted. Only Minerva remained, sitting at a back table sipping tea out of a painted cup. Her presence remained as imposing as ever and seemed to fill up the room all by itself.

"Hello, my lady," she said with a smile.

"Back from Crocus already?" The master's daughter gave her an incredulous look. "I thought you would have gone shopping."

This made Yukino look down bashfully. The dark haired woman always loved to needle her about her spending habits. "I thought I might leave on a job tomorrow morning."

Minerva snorted. "Good luck." She pointed toward the now nearly bare request bored languidly. "You'll have to fight if you want to get any decent work so close to when the list comes out. Everyone's trying to raise their standing." It was dreadfully boring for her, always being on top.

"List?" Yukino repeated, perplexed.

For all the time she spent with Sting, and Rufus and the rest of them, one would think they'd at least get her up to speed on the important things. Minerva shook her head. _Men. _"It's a ranking system. Every six months my father reveals a list that ranks the wizards in Sabertooth based on physical and magical strength, and the number and difficulty of jobs they've completed. The bottom ten percent is always expelled from the guild."

Yukino released a gasp before she could stop herself. People were getting kicked out for _relative _weakness. She thought about herself in relation to some of the others in the guild and her palms began to sweat.

Minerva gave a slightly amused chuckle at her reaction. "Don't worry so much about it. I know for a fact that you're in the top half this time around." She paused, giving the celestial spirit mage a sideways glance. "Actually, considering the way everyone dragged you around in the beginning, you might even be in the top twenty."

The pale haired mage could not deny the extent to which the notion appealed to her. She didn't come to Sabertooth just to be an average member. If she wanted average, she would have joined another guild ages ago. She wanted to thrive. Sometimes the weight of her past made her lose sight of that, but ever since she started training with Pisces that ambitious part of her has been growing exponentially.

"I like that look." Minerva smirked. She knew firsthand how much grit this girl had. Though she didn't look it, she'd probably let a building fall on her if it meant reaching her goals.

"My lady, when will the list come out?"

"Two weeks from now." She placed her bag on the table and reached inside for something. "That's two S-class jobs, maybe three if you hurry...these look good." She slapped three of the new requests they just received down on the table. She was going to post them in the morning, after she took some of the good ones for herself, but…

"M-my lady." Yukino looked down at the papers, confused. "Why-"

"Don't start thinking we're best friends now," the master's daughter warned. That mistake would cost her dearly. "It's just been awhile since I've seen a girl crack the top ten." It wasn't possible this time, but maybe in another six months.

"Thank you. I-"

"Better get started," Minerva interrupted. "If I were you, I'd catch the midnight train to Clover Town."

"Yes, of course." Yukino glanced at the large analog clock mounted on the back wall. She had a little less than three hours to pack everything and get there. "I'll do my best!"

"You better do better than that," the territory mage called after her. She still couldn't whether or not this one would actually reach the top, but it was interesting enough to watch her climb.

**Author's Notes**: Writing this chapter, I think I rediscovered why I like Yukino so much. Like, I love StingYu, but I also just really love Yukino as a character. She's so tenacious, and ambitious, and _strong_. Think about it. She got expelled from Sabertooth and the very next day she dusted herself off and became a sergeant in the royal army, working on the Eclipse Project. That is the definition of strength in my opinion. Alright, done rambling now. Thanks for reading, everyone! Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	6. X790 Part VI

It had begun about a week ago when Sting was leaving the Onibus train terminal to start his latest quest, and had to fight his way through a winding queue of men buying magazines from the news stand.

Since then, he'd seen at least three people gawking at Yukino's glamour shots everywhere he went between there and Sabertooth. His enhanced dragon slayer senses granted him the great displeasure of overhearing one too many lewd conversations with her name in them.

So by the time he returned to the guild, he was more than ready to put anything pertaining to _Sorcerer's Weekly_ out of his head. Unfortunately. half the people in the guild hall seemed to be reading or discussing the very issue he'd been trying so unsuccessfully to avoid.

"You look about ready to kill someone," Rogue noted as they both registered their latest jobs.

"Fro thinks so, too," the jumpsuit clad exceed proclaimed.

The blond shook his head. "You'd just think people would have something better to do than flip through magazines two days before the list comes out."

"Yukino-kun is too popular," Lector agreed with a nod.

Rogue shot his best friend an indecipherable look. That, honestly, was not the reaction he'd expected from him. "Sting...did you by any chance actually read the article?"

"Didn't care enough to," he replied. "Some of us actually do wizard work. If I wanted to know something about Yukino, I'd watch her fight."

"If you say so," the shadow dragon slayer said monotonously. In all his years of knowing Sting, his innate tendency to self-sabotage never became an ounce less fascinating.

Just then the girl in question walked briskly into the guild hall, proudly bearing the paperwork from her three successfully completed jobs. "I'm back, everyone!"

"If it isn't Jenny Rearlight!" Orga called out to her from his bar stool, holding up a copy of the magazine.

Yukino looked down meekly and started plucking invisible pieces of lint off her black skirt. "O-oh, you saw that?"

"Don't be so crass, Orga," Rufus chastised, pulling the brim of his hat down slightly. "If I remember correctly, her aesthetic quality is much closer to that of the late miss Mirajane."

"Rufus-sama!" she brought her hands to her cheeks in shock. This was the compliment of all compliments. "You think I look like Mirajane-sama? _The_ Mirajane-sama?" In her time, the Fairy Tail mage accounted for over twenty percent of _Sorcerer's_ sales each month.

The red minstrel chuckled at her dazed expression. He was just teasing to watch her reactions at this point. "Look like her? Yukino, I invite you to become the Mirajane of this generation."

At this, the young woman looked about ready to faint. Sting shook his head at the red minstrel's antics. "And I invite you to take a hike."

Rufus's eyes flicked towards him briefly, calculating. If he remembered correctly, and he always did, this wasn't the first time Sting had tried to direct people's focus away from the celestial mage. If all the studying required for memory make magic taught him anything, it was that there were no coincidences. Any action that a person repeated could be safely construed as a habit, and habits more often than not had meaning. But he wouldn't comment. Not now. This was one for the mental archives.

Yukino glanced between them, wondering what social landmine she just happened upon. She never heard of any enmity between them before, but then again, as Sting so often reminded her, everyone in Sabertooth was a rival to everyone else.

"I'll have to decline that one. Yukino." He pushed the crimson mask up on his face with his index finger. "We never did get to finish discussing the new manuscript that friend of mine published. Would you allow me to buy you a drink of your choosing while you share your critiques?"

"Actually, Rufus-sama, I'm not really staying." She only came to turn in her paperwork. "I know it sounds stupid, but I was really looking forward to watching the Grand Treasure Hunting Games on lacrima vision." It had been a guilty pleasure of hers for quite some time.

"Come watch it at our place!" Lector encouraged.

Trained well in the ways of Sabertooth secrecy, she waited until the other mages were out of earshot to respond. "Sure. Let's get out of here."

Yukino wasn't sure what she'd been expecting of the white dragon slayer's home, but it was no surprise to her that he lived in incredible style. Sting's apartment was at the top floor of a luxury complex. One wall in the livingroom was comprised entirely of windows, and the flatscreen lacrima TV was twice the size of her own.

Reclining on the white leather couch, the celestial wizard tried to make sense of all the buttons on the universal remote.

"You want popcorn?" Sting called to her from the kitchen.

"Sure."

He paused after realizing they were out. "Lector, go steal some from Rogue's place." This was one of the many benefits of living in the same apartment building.

Roughly two hours and an empty bowl of popcorn later, Yukino sighed dejectedly as the final results of the games played upon the lacrima vision screen.

"Sylph Labyrinth took it again this year, huh?" Sting observed.

"And I really thought the Silver Compass guild stood a chance." She shook her head, silently regretting her decision to cheer. She carried a curse of awful luck, after all.

"Now I owe Orga ten thousand jewels." The white dragon slayer ran a hand over his face. He'd never hear the end of it.

"It might be my fault." Yukino sighed, her eyes lowering sadly.

"How?"

"My bad luck might be contagious. Wherever I go, misfortune always seems to follow," she confided.

Sting glanced at her incredulously, deeply tempted by the notion of whacking her over the head with a cushion. "You can't be serious."

"You don't believe me?"

"Strong people don't have any use for something like luck. We just set things up the way we want them." The white dragon slayer smirked. "You seem to be doing that pretty well."

"Hmm...maybe." While she seemed to be finessing her new life, Yukino always felt one misstep away from losing everything.

"What do you mean, maybe? You join the guild you want, and within six months you're one of the best liked people there. You get your first interview in _Sorcerer_, and next thing you know you're some famous centerfold." Sting knew without even looking that she was blushing over god-knows-what. "You just gotta get it in your head that you can have whatever you want."

"Sting-sama…" Yukino looked at him, once again amazed that a person could exude such easy confidence. "This time next year, I'll be one of the top ten strongest mages in Sabertooth...and have Heart Kreuz custom make an outfit for me."

"So much for becoming _the Mirajane of this generation_," he teased.

She flushed again at this, covering her face with her hands. What nonsense had Rufus been trying to pour into her head? "I think my modeling career is over for now."

"Why's that?"

"On one of my jobs, I ran into Ichiya and the Trimens of Blue Pegasus." Yukino shuttered at the memory of being sniffed against her will. "Let's just say they're pretty big fans...and I'll probably be sent a medical bill sometime in the near future."

"You don't think you're getting away with not telling that story." His no nonsense blue eyed stare told her that anything less than a full recounting of those events wouldn't suffice.

"I was checking out of my inn and Ichiya-sama and the others were checking in. They saw me in the lobby and after introducing himself, Ichiya-sama started to sniff my arm." She tried her best to keep from cringing at the memory. "A-and I might have broken his nose...It was a reflex!" she insisted when the dragon slayer started laughing uncontrollably.

"God, you're perfect. I wish I could've seen that."

_Perfect_. A deep, tingling warmth ran through her despite the nippy winter weather. Even in the comical context of their conversation, Yukino could not shake the knowledge that it was the highest compliment anyone had ever paid her. How could someone see her that way when even her own family had always found her lacking?

She shoved off the wave of sentimentality as fast as it came. "Something tells me that you will if I ever run into him again."

Lector, who had been curled up on the arm of the couch drifting between consciousness and dreaming since the games ended, looked up at this. "Yukino-kun might not get the chance." The exceed was confident that Sting would put a hole in anyone who dared touch her in his presence.

"What?" she questioned.

Sting shook his head a bit too quickly. "Don't listen to him. He's dreaming."

Yukino only shrugged. "Do you maybe want to go on a job with me after the list comes out?" She wanted to get a head start on her quest to reach the top ten.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Something in Acalypha Town. S-class, but the pay is only two million jewel. I saw it on the request board earlier."

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

Two days later, when the list was released, twelve wizards were booted out of the guild. Tears were shed by the disgraced, but there were no heartfelt goodbyes. The weak were not to be missed. Only after the expelled members collected their things and left did Yukino dare to look at the rankings mounted in the guild.

_1\. Minerva Orlando _

_2\. Orga Nanagear _

_3\. Sting Eucliffe_

_4\. Rogue Cheney _

_5\. Rufus Lore _

Yes, that was to be expected. The celestial mage quickly scanned through the rest of it until she found her own name.

_16\. Yukino Aguria_

It was better than she'd thought, but still bittersweet to see how much distance still existed between herself and her closest associates.

"That's a gap you can close in no time, if you play your cards right." Minerva was standing behind her before she even noticed.

"M-milady!"

"When is your next job?" she questioned.

"I'm leaving tonight."

Minerva smirked approvingly. "Good. You're learning. Just try not to get too distracted."

Yukino froze, feeling as though a snake had coiled itself around her neck. "I-I don't understand what you mean."

She really had to be more careful about what she said in her interviews. Minerva was more than willing to keep her secret, woman to woman. That is until she wanted something from the pale haired mage. However, upon seeing the girl's oblivious expression, the master's daughter wondered if she was even aware of her own transgression. "No, perhaps you don't." She laughed, mostly to herself. But she would soon, and then the true fun would begin.

**Author's Notes: **Thanks for reading, everyone! I apologize for the long hiatus. The last few weeks of the classes are always the most challenging (but, on the bright side, I manged to get all A's this semester). Also, I've recently begun writing the first draft of an original story in the medieval fantasy genre. If anyone might be interested in reading that and offering some feedback, send me a message. I'd really appreciate it!


	7. X790 Part VII

As little as five years ago, the town of Acalypha had been an insignificant blip on the map of Fiore—just a nondescript rest stop on the route between Crocus and Magnolia for most, with only a single merchant guild to its name. However, after the arrival of a shrewd businessman on a quest to earn back his fortune, it quickly developed into one of the country's major centers of commerce.

Yukino fidgeted in the expensive leather chair in the reception area of her latest client's office. In her seven or so months at the guild she'd come across her fair share of celebrities and wealthy individuals, but this was on an entirely different scale. In a matter of minutes she was about to meet a person who some called the most powerful man in Fiore.

She drummed her fingers against the arm of the chair, watching people in business suits walk in and out of elevators and conference halls, all with a hurried and dignified air about them. A few of the younger men glanced at her curiously, looking like they wanted to approach her, but ultimately none of them did. After this happened for the fifth time, the celestial mage sighed dejectedly.

"They really are afraid of me," she said. "I guess word of what I did to Ichiya-sama has gotten around." Yukino was too preoccupied with her people watching to notice the spine-chilling death glares her teammate was shooting every man he even suspected had seen her spread in _Sorcerer._

"I don't think it's that," Sting replied. "The world's strongest guild comes with a reputation."

"I suppose so." She just didn't understand why it had taken this long to start happening.

Lector merely shook his head at the exchange. His human partner got more proficient at lying through his teeth by the day.

Just then an auburn haired secretary in a smart grey pantsuit emerged from behind ornate double doors. "Jude Heartfilia-sama will see you now, mages of Sabertooth."

When the doors shut behind them, the trio was faced with a well dressed middle aged man who had a sharp look in his dark eyes.

"What can we do for you, Heartfilia-sama?" Yukino asked.

Despite him not having an ounce of magic in his blood, he could sense the power signature of celestial spirit mage from a mile away. And this one looked to be about the same age as his only child before she disappeared. The renowned tycoon blinked a few times as though wrestling with some demon of his memory before he cleared his throat and began speaking.

"I need you to put a stop to a disturbance in my Mt. Hakobe ether mines. My mine workers haven't responded in over three weeks. None of the staff members I've sent to report on the progress of the site have returned, nor have the people from the previous guild I contacted with this task." Jude sent the request to Fairy Tail first in hopes of helping his daughter's guild with their financial problems out of a sense of loyalty. But after losing thousands of jewels each day his mines were out of commission, he finally gave in and contacted Fiore's premier wizard guild.

"Understood," Yukino said with a serious nod. "We'll catch the train first thing tomorrow."

"No need." The tycoon reached into one of the drawers in his desk and took out a set of keys. "Company car's out front. Runs on both ether fuel and SE plug, and there's an extra J500,0000 in it for you if you can manage not to wreck the thing." No one who hadn't spent their life under a rock was unaware of how destructive guild wizards could be.

"So it's a stick shift," Yukino noted when she slid into the driver's seat minutes later. She glanced at herself in the rear view mirror and adjusted the blue flower in her hair. "Maybe I should buy myself a car with the reward money."

Lector nodded approvingly. "I'd say it's a good investment." Hopefully he'd be able to convince her to take him and Frosch on a road trip someday.

Sting looked at both of them with unadulterated disdain. "Why would anyone want to own a vehicle?"

Yukino smiled at him sympathetically, putting the car into drive. "I guess it wouldn't make much sense for you, Sting-sama."

The sun was just beginning to set when they ended their journey at the base of Mt. Hakobe four hours later. Right away, Yukino braced herself against a gust of frigid wind. Her trendy jacket and short skirt were ill suited for this kind of weather. Even in the summer, the mountain climate erred on the side of inhospitable. Now, in mid-December, she was sure she could feel the temperature steadily creeping below the freezing point.

"H-how far back was the nearest shopping area?" Lector questioned as he began to shiver.

The celestial mage frowned. "At least two hours away. I'm not sure if it's even worth it-"

"It's not," inserted Sting who had just started to recover from his motion sickness. There was absolutely no way that he was spending another four hours in that car. "Let's just make this a quick one." If they got serious, he was certain that they'd be done with this job in a matter of hours.

"Agreed." Before they started their hike up the mountain, Yukino bent down and wrapped Lector up in her light blue pashmina scarf.

Upon reaching the entrance of Jude Heartfilia's mines, the two Sabertooth wizards decided to split up and investigate the premises. Yukino walked down her chosen path, ducking behind boulders whenever she heard footsteps. Every five minutes, like clockwork, a snow vulcan would come through pushing a minecart full of solid ether. Immediately, she found this strange. Vulcans were known to use takeover magic on unsuspecting humans, but they would never willingly continue the work their hosts left behind. There was only one way to find out what was going on for sure.

"Open: Gate of the Swan. Deneb!"

The spirit sighed forlornly as he materialized. "I don't know if there's anything I can do."

She laughed at his usual antics. "I believe in you, Deneb. I just need you to use your summer triangle on the next next vulcan that comes through." With any luck the person it took over might know who was behind this.

"I suppose I can try, even though I'm a swan and yet my wings aren't white."

"Please do your best!" she cheered, just as the unsuspecting creature came into view. After being electrocuted and knocked unconscious, the garish vulcan gave way to into a woman with round glasses and light purple hair.

"Are you alright?" Yukino questioned when she began to stir.

She nodded, rubbing her head. "How long have I been whittling away the defenseless hours?"

"What?" Maybe Deneb had fried her brain by mistake.

"Have the mages from Basilisk Crown been defeated?"

"Basilisk Crown?"

"The dark guild. They're the ones behind this." She struggled to her feet as quickly as she could manage. "I have to save Warren and the others!"

Yukino looked at the other woman with sympathy. If she was one of the mages Jude sent before, she must have been in there for weeks. "I promise your friends will make it out safely, but you should evacuate as soon as possible. You're badly injured."

The lilac haired haired mage shook her head. "I'll fight with you. Those aren't people you can take on by yourself."

"I'm not by myself," she explained, amazed that a stranger would show such a great level of concern for her safety. Some people really were kindhearted. "And I might not look like much, but my partner and I are both competent mages. There's no need for you to worry."

"Alright. I understand. Thank you...I'm sorry. I didn't catch the title by which you are called."

Yukino furrowed her brows. "Do you mean my name?"

She nodded. "Isn't that what I said?"

The celestial spirit wizard only smiled and extended her hand. "I'm Yukino Aguria, a mage from Sabertooth. It's nice to meet you."

"Sabertooth! Wow!" That was like being in the presence of magic royalty. "I'm known as Laki Olietta from Fairy Tail. May you grind the bones of the enemy into sand."

"Um...thank you?" Maybe that was Laki's way of saying good luck. She walked away hoping that the other girl would see a physician when she got home.

Yukino followed the tracks of the vulcans, attacking and freeing the humans inside of each one she found on the way, until she reached the magic filtration center. The pipelines that funneled liquid magical energy into Jude Heartfilia's lacrima factories weren't humming with power the way they were meant to. Instead, vulcans entering from eight different tunnels loaded tons of unprocessed ether into what appeared to be an aircraft.

On top of it stood a green haired woman who seemed to be overseeing the entire project, and what looked like a shepherd with a long staff. Suddenly the woman cut her eyes to the tunnel from which Yukino was watching.

"I'm glad you're the one who got here first, Yukino Aguria."

Yukino gasped as she emerged from her hiding spot. "How do you-"

"The sheep all share a consciousness," she explained with a belittling air. What kind of self-respecting celestial spirit wizard didn't even know about the myth keys? "I knew you were coming since you freed that second rate wizard from Fairy Tail. My partner and I made a bet, you see. He's so sure that you're not just some useless cow who slept her way into Sabertooth's elite, but I'm convinced that you are. Care to prove me wrong?"

Yukino narrowed her eyes in fury and wordlessly reached for her keys. "Open: Gate of the Paired Fish. Pisces!" The mother and son spirits appeared on either side of her in their battle forms.

"Open: Gate of the Greater Dog. Cerberus!" The green haired woman smirked as a giant, snarling three headed dog appeared between her and her opponent. "Look boy, lunch."

Just before the dog lunged at them, Yukino whispered something to the son spirit. Upon her instructions, he launched his trident like a javelin.

"Something like that won't work against Cerberus," the dark wizard taunted, just before the trident surged past the dog and embedded itself deep within the shepherd spirit's abdomen. In a matter of seconds, he retreated to the spirit world and all of the vulcans turned back into their human selves.

"Everyone, please evacuate as quickly as possible!" she called to the people. They dropped their ether almost immediately and started running towards the exits.

"Oh no you don't!" The Basilisk mage shouted a command at her dog and it ceased its pursuit of Yukino to chase the escaping workers instead.

"Libra!"

Just as it poised itself to pounce on young man, the three headed dog was frozen in mid air. Libra lifted the beast up to the cave's ceiling and then dropped it with as much force as she could muster. Cerberus then lied on the floor, dizzy and disoriented until his summoner sent him back to the spirit world. Yukino sighed in relief once the last worker made his way out. The safety of the civilians was always her first priority.

"You'll pay for that!" The other celestial wizard hissed. "Open: Gate of the Water Serpent! Hydra!" The slimy, green scaled creature nearly filled the entire cave. It licked its lips with a long forked tongue at the sight of human flesh.

"Mom!" the pisces son called to Yukino before tossing her a long trident, almost identical to his own.

"What is this?" she questioned.

"Your spirit weapon," Mother Pisces explained after she landed a kick on the Hydra's face. It had taken some convincing to get the Celestial Spirit King to allow it, but she knew for a fact that Virgo's girl had one as well. "You'll get the hang of it soon."

When the sea serpent grew irritated with the glancing blows they inflicted upon him, he inhaled deeply and then breathed out enough water to start flooding the cave.

Mother Pisces could only sigh in annoyance before she and her son regressed into two tiny fish. With a flick of her wrist, Yukino sent them back to the spirit world before using Libra's power to stand above the rising water.

"Open: Gate of the Snake Charmer. Ophiuchus!" In a fraction of a second, the giant snake spirit cut straight through the Hydra, severing the serpent in half before it dematerialized.

The green haired summoner twitched with anger as she watched the fabled celestial spirit lower Yukino to face her on top of the aircraft. She wore a no-nonsense expression as she pointed her trident at her foe. "Drop your keys," she said calmly. "It's over."

"I suppose it it, isn't it?" The dark wizard gave a sadistic grin at this. "For you." All she'd been waiting for was to get the pale haired woman at point blank range. "Open: Gate of the Hero. Perseus!"

Before Yukino could move, a humanoid spirit in leather armor appeared and held a gorgon's head up to her face. She was barely able to release a scream before it turned her to stone.

"There. That's better." The Basilisk mage patted Yukino's cheek in a condescending way. "I know you can hear me, even though you can't respond. As long as Perseus is here your body will stay like this, but all your senses are intact. So that means," she pulled a small dagger from the sheath at her waist, right next to her keys, and slowly drove it into the palm of Yukino's hand, "You can feel this just fine."

She smiled at her handiwork before continuing. "My that's a short skirt you're wearing," she marvelled, while making tiny, shallow cuts along both of her thighs. "How many people would a piece of trash like you have to fuck in order to climb so high in Sabertooth? I wonder. It almost makes me want to unfreeze you so you could answer. Almost."

She continued this for a few more minutes before growing bored. "You think you're so special, don't you?" she asked Yukino's unmoving form, before putting her dagger back in its sheath. "But you're not. You're nothing. And little nothing-girls are better off as rubble. Perseus!" The warrior spirit raised his blade above Yukino's head, awaiting instructions. "Strike her down."

"White dragon's roar!" The attack blew Perseus over ten feet away from Yukino.

"Hello Sting," the dark mage drawled, giving him a once over. "I see that your timing is as inopportune as ever."

"Marcella?" his electric blue eyes widened in shock. "So the rumors are true." She really did join a dark guild.

"I can say the same for you." She nodded towards Yukino. "Honestly, your taste in partners has declined drastically. Rogue had much more to offer than this one."

"I have to disagree with that," another wizard from Basilisk Crown said as he entered the room, cutting off Sting's retort. His clothes were torn and his breathing ragged. "Aw, come on Marce," he complained upon seeing Yukino, "I didn't even get to see her in the flesh."

"What took you so damn long, Kazu?" she growled.

The brown haired man scratched his head. "Hey, Sabertooth is hardcore. You of all people know how true that is."

Marcella sent him a withering glare. "Whatever. Let's just get out of here."

Sting's right fist started to glow white with dragon slayer magic. He could probably take their aircraft out with two well placed punches.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, dragon slayer," Kazu warned. The earth god slayer had a boulder suspended precariously over Yukino's head. "If you make a move before we're out of here, she gets it. And that would be a tragedy for the both of us. For every man in Fiore, really-"

"_Kazu, hurry the fuck up!"_ Marcella yelled over their aircraft's intercom.

He shook his head at her, wearing an exasperated expression. "I'm beginning to see why Sabertooth gave her the slip," he whispered to Sting as he backed away. "Let's finish our fight sometime. When the ladies can't get involved."

Kazu got into the copilot's seat and lifted the roof of the cave, only to replace it when they were gone. Then, as promised, the boulder shifted and fell to the side of Yukino. Seconds later, she returned to flesh with an anguished scream. Blood dripped from her right hand and a multitude of cuts on her legs.

"Yukino." Sting was at her side in an instant. "You okay?"

"This is nothing," she said while blinking back tears. Her hand was throbbing with pain, but she didn't want to be even more of a burden. "We should go after them. Lector, do you think you can reach a ship?"

The exceed, still wrapped up in her scarf, nodded. "Something like that is no match for my max speed."

But when they tried to escape, by air or on foot, they ran straight into invisible walls.

"Runes," Yukino sighed after their umpteenth try. "_No living creature bearing the guild mark of Sabertooth may leave this place for the next twelve hours_," she read.

"So, we're stuck here all night?" Lector asked.

"Looks like it," Sting replied. No matter how many lasers he shot at the runes, nothing penetrated them.

Yukino frowned. Even from the inside, she could feel the temperature dropping. "It's a shame that all our luggage is still in the car."

"At least we're still getting paid," the dragon slayer pointed out. The request only asked them to stop the disturbance in Jude Heartfilia's mines, and with the dark guild out of Mt. Hakobe the miners would be able to resume work the next day.

"There is that." At least her perfect mission record was still intact.

Hours later, as she was trying unsuccessfully to get to sleep, an article of clothing was unceremoniously tossed on top of Yukino. She opened one eye to identify it. "Sting-sama...is this your coat?"

"You need it more than I do," he said offhandedly.

"A-are you sure?" she questioned, thinking of his shirt that left most of his chest exposed so the world could admire his impressive pectorals. "You could get pneumonia."

"Don't worry about it," he assured. "Dragon slayers don't get sick."

Yukino hesitated for a moment. If she knew Sting, and she was ever increasingly sure she did, she'd say that with his level of hubris it was a half-truth at best. But this time she was too tired and too cold to argue. "If you say so, Sting-sama."

**Author's Notes:** So...Lucy's dad and Laki made cameos! And I created a dark guild...with a really sucky name...and I'm still terrible at fight scenes (I admit sadly). Anyway, thanks for reading everyone. Reviews are _greatly_ appreciated.


	8. X790 Part VIII

**Chapter Eight**

Upon returning home, Yukino was more than disappointed with the weather. Three whole days after she collected her reward from Jude Heartfilia, the hellish wintry mix of sleet and sadness that greeted her at the train station still hadn't let up. Despite the best efforts of her umbrella, the rain and partly melted snow pelted her skin on the walk from Skyjewels Coffee to Sabertooth.

As she struggled to open the double doors of the guild, the umbrella slipped from its temporary resting place between her head and shoulder. Yukino braced herself, expecting to feel the elements crash upon her, but instead she remained relatively dry. Looking up, she saw a giant wing made of ice hovering over her head, and a man with silver hair holding the door open for her.

"After you," he said. They locked eyes briefly before Yukino looked away with a timid smile.

"T-Thank you," she panted out, hurriedly collecting her things. Once inside, the man and his long bearded companion walked away from the guild, giving off the air of very important—yet humble—individuals.

"Was that…" Yukino trailed off as she watched the retreating figures of Lamia Scale's most powerful wizards. "Iron Rock Jura and Lyon Vastia!"

"We don't gawk at other mages, Yukino. Not even the famous ones," Minerva, who had seen their guests out, chided.

"My apologies, milady," she stammered, while still watching them from out of the corner of her eye.

With a sigh, Minerva shut the door firmly behind them. "I'd say it's cold enough without an ice wizard around." She glanced down at the second drink on the celestial wizard's coffee tray. "What is that?"

"White chocolate mocha...but it's for-"

"He's not here," the master's daughter informed. The celestial spirit mage tensed visibly upon realizing she knew how close they were.

"Oh, well in that case," Yukino offered the drink to her.

"Thanks." She took a small sip and made a slightly disappointed face. "A bit sweet for my taste, but anything warm would work right about now."

"Definitely," Yukino agreed. The two made their way over to their usual barstools. "So, what business did Lyon-sama have at Sabertooth." It was the first time she'd ever seen people from other guilds around.

"Besides getting oogled by you?" Minerva deadpanned. Of all the days for Sting not to be around. That was a fight she certainly wouldn't mind watching.

"I...I wasn't. I mean-"

"Between you and me," the dark haired woman said in a low voice, "he's a decent fuck, if that's why you were looking. Probably better than decent, actually, if he'd been sober."

Yukino's eyes went wide when she heard this. "W-when did you…"

Minerva shook her head at how innocent she was. She'd have to do something about that if they were ever going to start hanging out outside of work. "A few months ago, after I finished a job. I went down to the bar at my hotel for a few drinks. He was there. I was there. The sex was great, but I got kinda turned off because he kept calling me Sherry."

Yukino nearly gasped. "Sherry? You mean _Sherry Blendy_?" Her upcoming wedding to Ren Akatsuki of Blue Pegasus was getting nonstop coverage in _Sorcerer_. "So the gossip was true. There really was a love triangle."

"Oh yeah, he loves her," Minerva confirmed. "Too much of a gentleman to fuck up her wedding though, from what I understand. But I nearly killed him then and there for comparing me to such a useless mage...are you in the mood for a croissant?"

"Sure, I'll take one."

"You," the master's daughter pulled aside the next person to walk past them.

"Y-yes milady," the curly haired girl stammered.

"Run to Skyjewels and get us two croissants."

"Toasted and with butter?"

"Yes. And if I were you, I'd back within six minutes," she warned, before turning back Yukino. "Anyway, long story short, if you ever need a wingwoman, I'm around."

Yukino smiled politely after another sip of her macchiato. "That's very kind, milady. But I couldn't really see myself hooking up with someone randomly."

"So you want a relationship?" Minerva could hardly say that she didn't seem the type.

"Well, not really-"

"You're scared of something." Minerva drummed her fingers against the table as she scrutinized the other girl. "No bullshit magazine answers this time. What happened? Bad breakup scarred you for life?"

Yukino sighed internally, fiddling with the belt on her light brown peacoat. Had it been anyone else, she would have found a way to creep away from this topic, but the lady always received the answers she sought. "No, it's nothing like that," she assured. Her romantic history, while surely extant, had been overwhelmingly unremarkable. None of the expected heart racing, palm sweating serendipity made itself known during the few dates she went on. "I'm not particularly against going out. I'm just not actively looking for someone."

"Why not?"

She shrugged. "I don't really see the point if I don't really like the person, and I just can't see it ending well if I did." It would be just her luck to fall irrevocably in love with someone who didn't return the sentiment. "Better to save myself the hassle."

"Such a pessimist," Minerva noted, just as the curly haired mage returned to their side with the croissants, panting like mad.

A few minutes later, Rogue approached them. "Milady, the briefing session for our mission is about to start. Orga and Rufus are already upstairs in the conference room."

Minerva glanced up at the clock. "It's that time already?"

"What's the mission?" Yukino questioned. In all her time at Sabertooth, the conference room had never been used for anything but recreation.

"Apparently the situation with Basilisk Crown is more serious than we thought," Rogue explained. Their influence in the magical underground rivaled that of even them Balam alliance. "Two representatives from Lamia Scale were just here to propose an alliance between the five strongest guilds to defeat them."

"That sounds so exciting." Yukino's eyes lit up. "So, along with us and Lamia, that would be-"

"No one," Minerva cut in. She hopped down from her bar stool. "Naturally, our master declined the alliance. So instead of the top five guilds, he's sending the five strongest wizards in Sabertooth to do the job."

Rogue stayed silent. He, for one, had been in favor of the alliance. At least in the privacy of his own mind.

"We leave in two days. Let Sting know," Minerva instructed, before mounting the stairs ahead of them with confident, hip-swaying steps. "Whichever one of you sees him first."

* * *

The next day, after promising the exceeds that she'd take them shopping before the big mission, Yukino sat in a popular clothing store watching Frosch try own onesies with fur on the insides while Lector deliberated over which jacket to buy.

"What do you think, Yukino-kun?" he questioned, turning this way and that in the mirror. "This dark blue is my signature color, but the black is edgy and exciting."

"Why not both?" she asked with a chuckle. "That's how I settled my dilemma." That was why she currently had two pairs of HK boots—one in black leather, and a second in brown suede—in the shopping bags beside her.

"You raise a good point, Yukino-kun." He picked up both of the cat sized coats and carried them off to the register.

"Fro thinks so too!" the green exceed chimed in as she followed him with three winter jumpsuits in her paws.

Yukino watched them go, wondering for a fleeting moment whether she should be imparting such indulgent spending habits on them.

"So," she began once they were seated in a cafe, eating comfort foods and dodging the weather, "it's odd for Sting-sama to go on a job without you, isn't it?"

"Fro thinks so too!"

Lector suddenly seemed incredibly concentrated on dipping one half of his grilled cheese sandwich into his cup of tomato soup. "You see...the thing about that is. Sting-kun isn't as much on a job as he is…" the exceed paused. Surely saying anything would be a betrayal—in their guild information could be as deadly as hemlock or nightshade—but he was certain that she was trustworthy.

"What is it?" Yukino questioned after taking a bite out of her orange and ginger scone. Frosch lost interest in the topic when the waitress brought her a mug of thick hot chocolate with a single massive marshmallow floating in the center.

"Maybe I shouldn't say…"

It only took her a minute to put the pieces together. "He caught the flu, didn't he?" she sighed.

The exceed looked up at her questioningly. "You don't seem surprised." He himself had been shocked that the indomitable immune system of a third generation dragon slayer had failed.

Yukino only smiled at him. She wasn't shocked. Not in the slightest. "I suppose we should make sure he isn't dead."

"Fro thinks so too," the green feline chimed in, though it was more than clear that she hadn't been following the conversation.

"I'll come over later tonight."

That night as Yukino stood outside of Sting's penthouse, an unfamiliar nervousness took hold of her. She had been grappling with it since she left the house, compulsively smearing peach flavored gloss across her lips, and checking the way her hair fell in the windows of three cars between her apartment and his. Even as she went from shop to shop picking up things she thought would make him feel better, Yukino was acutely aware that he wouldn't want her doing anything for him.

She wiped her slightly sweaty palms off on the sides of her jacket, moving the plastic bag she carried up to her wrist before knocking twice on the door. After hearing no response Yukino let herself in, knowing that he never locked it. She tip-toed into the bedroom where Sting slept—shirtless as always—and started unloading the contents of her care package onto the bedside table. As she did this, the celestial spirit mage tried her best notice how his face was flushed with fever, or be bothered by the harshness of his breathing. Such observations would only bring on guilt and sympathy, sentiments that he looked upon with strong contempt.

Just as she finished and turned to leave the way she came, Sting caught her wrist in his hand. He glanced up at her, now fully awake.

"S-Sting-sama," she stammered out, "Sorry I woke you. I-"

"How-" he paused to clear his throat, "How long have you been in here?"

Yukino nearly winced at how hoarse he sounded. "Only a few minutes."

"Shit," he murmured to himself, running a hand over his face. His dragon senses were truly shot if he didn't wake up when she came in. "Lector told you?" That had to be the reason she was there.

"He didn't have to," she admitted. Something, probably a hybrid of intuition and common sense, told her that was why he hadn't been at the guild since their mission. "I thought dragon slayers didn't get sick." Half of a smirk adorned her lips as she repeated his words.

"That makes two of us-" he deadpanned, before a coughing fit overtook him.

Yukino sighed, shaking her head. "What are you going to do about the mission?"

He glanced toward the half empty duffel bag on the other side of the room. "Finish packing."

"Sting-sama," she sighed, as she proceeded to initiate the exact argument she'd been trying to avoid. "I think maybe you should call out of the job."

"You're out of your mind."

"But you're sick," she insisted. "You shouldn't push yourself-"

"It's none of your concern, Yukino."

The celestial spirit mage drummed her fingers on the bedside table. "It could be." She knew that the only way to get her way on this matter would be to shroud her intentions in self-interest. "If you let me sub in for you, a job like that would put me in the top ten." And while she mainly wanted to look out for a friend, she would have been lying if she said that thought hadn't crossed her mind.

He eyed her warily. "Even if that sort of thing actually happened-and I'm not saying it does-at your level you'd get fucked up so bad I don't even want to think about it."

She sighed, in equal parts annoyed at the belittling comment and pleased at the fact that he admitted he'd be worried about her, in his own, terribly crass way. "Do you remember how I got into this guild, Sting-sama?" She had proven her worth, just like every other member of Sabertooth.

"This is different," he insisted. "You've been on jobs with all of us, sure. But one that takes all five of us together is on a completely different level. You'll get yourself killed."

"I think I deserve a bit more credit than _that_," Yukino reasoned. The dark mage Marcella's words were floating to the forefront of her mind. "I'm a part of Sabertooth for a reason." And that reason was _not_ that she looked good in a short skirt.

Sting took in her crossed arms and slightly irritated pout with fascination. He had never seen her so worked up about anything before. His curiosity of this side of her, paired with his current exhaustion, made the dragon slayer somewhat receptive to the idea. "No one would believe that I'd give you that mission."

"Yes they will," she sighed. Untrue as it was, she knew that half the guild thought they were having sex. This was the first, and probably the only time that assumption would work in their favor. "Even wizards I've never met seem to think I slept my way into the guild." There was a hard edge to her voice as she said this. "Now I get to prove them wrong."

"I never pegged you as the vengeful type."

She adjusted her purse on her shoulder. "There are things you don't know about me Sting-sama," she leveled as she made her way back to the door. "Feel better."

As she made her way back out into the still winter night, Yukino felt sure of three things: that she needed to pack, that this mission would be the end of her, and that she was a far better actress than anyone gave her credit for.

**Author's Notes: **So, I found myself questioning whether or not I wanted to lay on the fluff in this chapter. As you can probably tell, I decided against it. Thanks for reading, everyone! Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	9. X791: Intro

**Chapter Nine **

"Screw all of those council members," Minerva complained as she took a sip of her winter themed cocktail. Obnoxious cape or no, nobody stood between Minerva Orlando, strongest wizard in Sabertooth, and her much deserved massage without facing the consequences.

"Milady, they can arrest us if you say that," the celestial spirit mage cautioned, looking around for eavesdroppers. She slipped out of her plush complimentary robe and handed it to the spa attendant. Still, it was true—every treatment they tried to sign up for had already been booked by a member of the magic council.

Minerva rolled her eyes as she lowered herself into the steaming water. "I guess I should have expected it. We are in Era after all." The job had only taken them a week—much shorter than she'd anticipated but still too long for the master's liking—so they decided to ring in the new year in style. The Era Spa of Serenity was the best in the entire country.

"At least we get to wait in the hot tub." Yukino sighed as the warm water began to soothe her overworked muscles. Orga and Rufus were still downstairs in the eucalyptus room. Rogue, being Rogue, didn't think the excursion was worth an extra two hours on a moving vehicle, so he and Frosch headed straight home. "Still, I can't wait for my aromatherapy massage."

They soaked in silence for a few minutes, taking in the snow capped mountains and evergreen trees that decorated the horizon. Then Minerva turned to her guild mate, smirking.

"So, are you gonna tell me how you got Sting to let you have this mission?"

Yukino felt herself go red under the lady's probing gaze, and prayed the lady would assume it was because of the heat or the boozy cider she was nursing. She forced herself to shrug and roll her eyes a bit. "He just knew I had a score to settle with that celestial spirit wizard."

"Oh, Marcella?" the lady smirked. Minerva struggled a bit to recall her name. Most wizards were in and out of the guild in less than a year, so she rarely bothered getting to know them. "You really handed her ass to her, didn't you?"

Yukino looked down, stirring the spiked cider the attendant had brought out with a cinnamon stick. Perhaps she _had_ gone a bit overboard, but it was warranted. "She just rubbed me the wrong way."

"Even so, Sting's never been one to pass up a fight—especially not a good one." She gazed at Yukino, tapping the tips of her nails against the curve of her martini glass, making an assessment. "I think he's weak for you."

A jolt of panic ran through the celestial spirit mage. She knew the lady had chosen the phrase just to rile her. But the words rolled off her tongue smoothly, like the lyrics to a song played too often on the lacrima radio. It sounded like she'd been thinking them for a long while. "I-I wouldn't say that, milady."

"I would," Minerva affirmed. "It's not a bad thing. Not for you, anyway. Keep working him like you are now, and you're golden."

"That really isn't an accurate way to look at it," she argued, shaking her head. "He isn't...I mean he doesn't. I...anyway, I wouldn't manipulate someone like that."

Minerva clicked her tongue, an incredulous sound if there ever was one, and finished off her drink before calling for another. "Then why'd you ask Sting instead of me, or one of the others?"

Yukino bit her lower lip, her forehead creasing with a blend of stress and irritation. She had asked him because if he tried to come on this job with a fever—something only he was stubborn enough to try in the first place—he'd be half dead by now. The celestial spirit mage sighed deeply; she was supposed to be relaxing.

_Sting-sama? Weak for her?_ Yukino almost snorted at the idea. If anything, she realized with a twinge of horror, the reverse was true. All things considered she probably cared a bit too much about the dragon slayer, while she was fairly sure he mostly found her entertaining. What a great time it was to figure that out.

"But anyway," she started, quick to change the subject. "What's the story with that Marcella girl? I just can't see someone like that falling far enough down the list to get kicked out."

"It was a...special circumstance," Minerva hedged, sinking further into the water. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to give her a break, for now at least."In the middle of the ranking period, one of her legs got snapped on a mission. An injury like that puts you out of work for months, so…" she made a throat cutting gesture and gave a pointed look.

"How terrible," the celestial spirit mage sighed. Yukino remembered what the green haired woman said after their second fight while the council members shackled her. _Don't think anyone in that guild cares about you, loves you. Not for a minute. One fuck up, just one and you're as good as dead to the lot of them. _It made sense now why she had been so bitter.

"What makes it worse is how it happened." Minerva dragged her index finger around the sugary rim of her peppermint martini, sucked the candy off the tip. "I never got the details—never cared enough to, honestly. But apparently she got hurt pushing her partner out of the way. Ninja boy made a big deal saying they were were gonna leave the guild together if she got booted. Probably thought the master heartless enough to kick out a girl in a cast."

_Well, he'd been wrong. _

"It was _Dobengal-sama!_" Yukino realized, shocked. She'd never known him to take a partner, and the few jobs he'd invited her on were just half-hearted attempts to join a new fad. "But he didn't go through with it."

"Of course he didn't. Would you?"

The question stilled something in Yukino. She always considered herself to be a loyal person; she was good to the people she cared about—to everyone, really. But there was a reason why she had stayed independent for so long. After Sabertooth there was nowhere to go but down.

Sorano always used to tell her being so nice would get her nowhere. "I wouldn't," she finally admitted, acutely surprised that it wasn't a lie. So little of what she said was completely true these days, even the things she told herself. What was this guild turning her into?

"Good, you're learning."

A few days of luxury later, Yukino returned to her apartment, kicking off her brown suede boots as soon as she made it across the threshold. She turned on the light in the living room and noticed a gift box on the coffee table, white with gold ribbons. She opened in it in that careful, reverent way of hers, and found the newest Heart Kreuz fragrance—_Corazón_ by HK. She'd been meaning to buy it on the way home (but didn't because she'd just spent almost as much as her rent costs on spa treatments).

She sprayed the perfume into the air, sighing as the intricate blend of honey, patchouli, and jasmine wafted throughout the room. Still left in the box was a bottle of champagne with a folded piece of paper taped to the top.

She opened it and smiled. It was an especially well-paying request—espionage. In three weeks (thank the gods, she was _tired_) they were to infiltrate the annual winter ball of Duke Junelle and steal a set of files. There was a hastily scribbled note on the bottom right corner of the request:

_Lay low til then? Happy New Year. _

_-S_

And then she grinned a grin that was completely foreign to her—a gesture of bliss that stretched her face until an ache bloomed in her cheeks. It was the sensation of complete satisfaction, paired with an anxious desire for more, that had been missing from all her first dates that never led to second ones. It was a heart pounding in her chest, music playing in her head, cradling the note until morning possession.

And she knew that if luck had its way, it would be her absolute ruin.

**Author's Notes: **Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are greatly appreciated.


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